


Kastiltskin

by Eleanorose123



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, First Kiss, M/M, Misgendering, Trans Kaninja, Trans Male Character, i really like the rumplestilskin story sue me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-05-06 22:22:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14657424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eleanorose123/pseuds/Eleanorose123
Summary: A beautiful man is tasked with turning hay to gold and is forced to rely on the talents of an interesting stranger to survive. A Rumpelstiltskin AU.





	Kastiltskin

**Author's Note:**

> This was quite literally me coming out of the shower at 10 PM thinking "wouldn't it be funny if I put these two in this type of story" and before I knew it it was 12:31 AM and I had written over 2000 words of it. Ain't that just typical.
> 
> Please enjoy the silly!

A long time ago, in a place far away, a king and a miller ending up drinking together. In his drunken haze, the miller began to boast about his child; a beauty for the ages, with eyes of sapphire and the ability to make the impossible come to life. The king took fancy in such a girl, and gave the miller a summons to bring the daughter he had described to the castle for inspection.

The miller, in actuality, just had a very aesthetically pleasing son, who did not take kindly to being referred to in such a manner.

“How dare you go about proclaiming me to be a woman!” his son cried. “To the king no less! What would become of me if-“

“Will you relax, boy?” the hungover miller said, even then still nursing a bottle in hand, as he lazily sat in a chair. “Just do what the king asks, it’s not like you have anything better to do.”

Before he had chance to retaliate, guards of the castle had arrived to their home to escort “the fair maiden”. Through a series of swears and spats, the young man was promptly dragged out of his home by the guards and taken to meet his fate. Whatever that may be.

In a surprising turn of events, the man was not recognized as a male (even considering he made no efforts to hide it), and the king put him to work for his “magical gifts”. Throwing the miller’s son in a tower full of hay and one spinner, the king declared that the hay should be turned to gold by morning, or else he’d meet the blade of the executioner’s axe.

The poor man struggled for hours to escape, making no effort to try spinning hay into gold for he knew it be hopeless. But alas, the tower’s walls were hard to climb, and the only window was far out of his reach. Anger had turned into reluctant acceptance of his soon to be demise, and the man slid down against the brick walls to sit in the hay, hugging his knees as his long silver hair shielded his face away.

“What’s a pretty one like you sitting in hay like that-ka?”

Startled, the man jumped at the sound and hit his head rather hard in the process. Once he had come to, he had realized another person had entered the room without his knowledge. Before him crouched a peculiar looking man, with bandages wrapped around his head and purple tinted goggles similar to the ones the alchemists in their land wore. His eyes stared right at him, along with a mischievous grin on his face.

“How did you get in here?” The poor man questioned. “Help me leave.”

“Kakaka, aren’t you demanding?” Standing up from his spot, the stranger was revealed to be quite small, only coming up to the other man’s midtorso in height, and that would be if wasn’t hunched over like he was. “Don’t worry about it, pretty boy. Now, what’s this I hear about turning hay into gold-ka?”

“My name is Kurage, you pest.” Growling, he stood up to look down on the other. “I don’t know how you heard about that, but let’s just say my father and the king are like two halves of one idiot.”

“I hear a lot of things around here-ka. So, Ku-ra-ge~” the short man played around with the syllables of his name like it was a score of music. “If you’d like, I could help you out of your little predicament…for a price-ka.”

“I have nothing to offer you, filth. I am a miller’s son after all.” Kurage looked up to a far window. “Just get me out of here now and I won’t call the guards on you.”

“Who said anything about escape? I simply mean I can do your little task _for_ you-ka. That whole hay to gold trick is easy for a person like me.” He cracked his fingers before walking towards the spinner, a hop in his step as he went. “Just say I have permission to take that ring from your room and I’ll help you out-ka.”

“What did- Have you been spying on me!”

“Just say _yes_ , you tall glass of annoying. Unless you _want_ to die come morning-ka.”

Not seeing any other option, Kurage agreed to the terms, although still a bit peeved that someone knew of the ring he had stolen years ago. Through gentle and graceful movements, the stranger began to weave and spin the hay through the spinner, the reels filling with gold in moments. He had made it quite a show, quietly buzzing a tune under his breath as he worked, though by the third reel of gold, he took notice of how the other lost interest and took to sitting facing away from him.

By the time the humming stopped, Kurage turned and saw the stranger gone, and dozens of reels of gold in his place.

The king was ecstatic by the results, but to the peasant’s great annoyance, he was not allowed to leave just yet. Getting thrown rather harshly into another tower of hay, he was asked to make the same ridiculous miracle as before, lest he face the previously mentioned consequences. Kicking hay aggressively, he heard a familiar voice.

“Really-ka? _Again_ with the hay?”

“The king has a thing for it I suppose.” Kurage sighed and took note of the eager look in the other’s eyes. “…I take it you also want the necklace I have hidden under the floorboards of my bed back home, right?”

“Ooo~ That’s a good one-ka!” Stepping forward, the small man reached up and gently patted the side of Kurage’s face. “Don’t you worry, I’ve got this.”

“I cannot believe I am forced to rely on the aid of such a lowly creature.” Kurage watched the man in question shrug nonchalantly before going to work. “…why are you helping me like this anyway? And _how_ for that matter?”

“I know how to do a lot of things-ka, but I don’t know why I know them. As for the why, ah…” He paused from his spinning. It was the first time Kurage saw this strange man without a smile on his face. Instead of a smirk, his lips were pressed tight, until with a shake of his head, the smile returned with a laugh. “Let’s just say, I owe you one.”

Kurage decided he didn’t have the patience to try and coax a proper answer out and waited for the morning to come.

Waking up with a jolt, he found he had fallen asleep during the night; the stranger gone once more with the promised gold reels in his place. Kurage mentally pleaded that it would be the last time he’d be forced into such a situation, but the king, overjoyed by the results once more, said otherwise. Tossed into yet another tower of hay, the king made his decree. But what was promised should the deed be done made Kurage’s blood run cold.

“MARRIAGE?!” he yelled out, inwardly knowing that his strange comrade would hear him. “If I do this, I have to _marry_ that oaf?!”

“Kakaka, you’d make a beautiful king, I’m sure.” Kurage turned around, hissing that he could never see the other enter or leave these towers. “Although, I suppose you’d be his _queen_ until your honeymoon night-”

“Enough. I don’t wish for such mental images.” He sighed deeply, running his fingers down his long silver locks. “I’ve never been a woman, never _wished_ it either, so why must these things happen to me?” Feeling conflicted over the situation Kurage sat down, the other man staring at him with a pondering look before joining him.

“Got me-ka. It took _a lot_ for me to get people to recognize me for anything _but_ a girl.” He gestured to his bandages. “I didn’t get these by tripping you know.”

“I take it I’ll not get a full story of that either?” A brief shake of the head. “Of course….I don’t even think your services will be needed, odd one. No matter the result of this night, I am doomed to die none the less. Unless you could help me _escape_ -“

“I can’t get you out of this tower, stop asking-ka.”

“You’re such a little pest!” Kurage gave the other a shove, who in turn laughed at the response. “I suppose my only chance is through succession though…so what is it you want from me now? I am all out of stolen goods for you to steal off of me.”

“I could ask you for your gorgeous silver hair, or even your ocean-like eyes.” the stranger stuck his tongue out teasingly. “But in all honesty-ka, I don’t want to get messy like that. So, how about this? Tell me a story while I work and we’ll go from there-ka.”

Kurage found he could agree to such a request, and began to recount stories from his youth as the night went on. Several were children’s tales (“Fitting for one so small” he had noted) but a few were stories of fact. From things such as his father’s drunken mishaps, to a time he’d saved a little girl from a river’s wrath. Unlike the previous nights, Kurage refused to look away from the magic before him, and found himself smiling a few times whenever he caught the stranger’s eye as he worked.

“There you go,” he announced. “One room full of gold-ka.”

“That should please the idiot king. You’ve done…” Kurage really couldn’t bring himself to compliment another living being. “Adequately. Now please, amaze me with your escape method.”

“Ah ah! I still haven’t gotten my payment, Kurage. I’m still owed my due-ka~”

“I thought we had agreed I had nothing left to-“

Before he had any time to react, the small stranger had leapt up and caught Kurage’s lips with his own, causing them to collide against the stone wall in the process. The kiss was gentle, as if too much force would break the other, and as quick as it happened, he pulled away, a light blush dancing upon his cheeks. With a warm smile, he looked sad as he said,

“A first kiss holds more value than you realize.”

A bit shaken from the kiss, Kurage couldn’t respond, and could only watch as the agile man jumped wall to wall of the tower to reach the window. With a small wave, he had left, leaving Kurage with gold and hope to live another day. Fingers gently pressing against his own lips, Kurage almost wished he did have another tower to be flung into.

But no hay was in his future, as the king took to proposing to Kurage on the spot. Unable to get in a word about his rejection of the offer, or even address the king’s confusion of his gender, Kurage was dragged by handmaidens to get fitted and prepared for a wedding he didn’t want. Upon reaching the room, Kurage angrily removed his shirt to prove a point to the women caring for him, causing them to run out of the room in an embarrassed frenzy, leaving him to assess his situation at hand.

Not in a locked tower, Kurage noted the easier access to the windows. However, a brief glance outside told him his plans would be in vain, as there was a long fall down to the gardens awaiting him if he even tried to jump. And with nothing in the room close to being enough to make up a rope, he quietly pleaded out loud.

“I doubt you can hear me, and I doubt you could rescue me this time, but _please_ , if you’re here and care as you may claim, get me out of this prison so I can come to know you more, you pest.”

But nothing came from it. Kurage looked around but there was no one in sight to make him feel at ease. All at once it crashed down around him that he might never see the stranger again, and such things made Kurage feel ill.

“…I never even got his name.” he whispered, before clenching his jaw and feeling a tear roll down his face at the realization.

“It’s Ka. I really hoped you would’ve guessed that, pretty boy.”

Startled once more, Kurage saw his savior stand before him, his head cocked to a side looking up at him with an arched eyebrow. Realizing what he had been doing, Kurage viciously wiped away his tears and glared down to the other.

“Who would guess such things? That’s barely a noise, let alone a name.” he scoffed, looking the other way. “Kissing me like that…you really are an absolute fool, Ka.”

“It takes one to recognize one it seems-ka. Now,” taking his hand, Ka lead Kurage to the window where a rope leading them to freedom resided. “I take it you wish to leave the king at the alter?”

“Without question.”

In a burst of emotion, Kurage lunged forward and caught Ka in a hard pressed kiss, his arm wrapping around the other’s torso and hand cradling his head. After letting out a surprised noise, Ka found himself relaxing into the kiss, the other’s warmth taking over him before reaching up and letting his thumb stroke against Kurage’s cheek. Hearing footsteps outside the room, the two quickly parted and returned to their escape.

It would not be the last time the duo found themselves running away from pursuers hand in hand, as the two found their similar interests in others’ possessions to get them into their fair share of trouble.  Kurage would never discover the fact that in their youths, he was the one who saved Ka from a river accident, nor would he ever ask again why the magical man was ever indebted to him.

To him, his debt was paid. And to Ka, his life was made.


End file.
